


Eternity Conversations

by Todteufelritter



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Drinking, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:40:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28229283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Todteufelritter/pseuds/Todteufelritter
Summary: During the events of Mass Effect 2, Commander Shepard gets drunk with everyone's favorite Asari Matriarch Bartender.
Relationships: Thane Krios/Female Shepard, female Shepard - Relationship
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

Scene: Eternity Bar

Aethyta: Well look who’s back. I looked you up, by the way. Thanks for not blowing up my bar this time around.

Shepard: I try to spare the bars, normally. Places like this are why I fight.

Aethyta: Don’t suppose they used that one on a recruiting poster, babe.

Shepard: Bar ads, maybe. Got an offer for an endorsement deal for the place I was at in Elyssium when the blitz hit. 

Aethyta: Did you do it?

Shepard: No. It was a shithole. I was just there to watch Krogan wrestling anyway.

Aethyta: What’ll it be?

Shepard: Do you have an earth drink here - Whiskey? Even better if it’s bourbon.

Aethyta: Don’t get many requests for earth drinks. But there’s this dusty old bottle here. I don’t think we really paid for it, bought it when another bar closed down a decade ago or so. It says it’s Pappy van something or other. That what you want?

Shepard: Ah...yeah. That’ll do.

Aethyta: I don’t know how much it costs so I’ll just pick a number.

Shepard: How about I give you 200 credits for the bottle, and I can drink it whenever I come here?

Aethyta: Suits me fine babe. You’re the first that’s ever asked for it. Where’d you get a taste for it? I figure there’s a story.

Shepard: Kentucky. Back on earth. They make this stuff there. When I was at the Academy I dragged my roommate on a motorcycle trip all around that part of earth. I was obsessed with this general who fought there 300 years ago. Ulysses S. Grant.

Aethyta: That’s quite a name, even for a human.

Shepard: He was quite a man. And he was quite a drinker.

Aethyta: A real hero for you, then.

Shepard: Yeah, you could say that. He’s everything I wanted to be when I became a soldier. -sigh-

(some time passes. Shepard drinks quickly and stares at the bar)

Aethyta: You look green. You’ve had two drinks and now you’re staring at your whiskey like you want to drown in it.

Shepard: What? I look green?

Aethyta: Sorry babe, I should translate. It’s what Asari say when someone looks depressed. We can’t say ‘you look blue’ now can we?

Shepard: I suppose not. It’s nothing, it’s just hard coming back from the dead and finding out you’re someone else now.

Aethyta: But you’re still you. War hero, savior of the galaxy. Easy on the eyes. Hell you probably drink for free at the citadel. 

Shepard: I’m not with the alliance, though. I’m with the enemy, because they’re the only ones that will have me. 

Aethyta: I mean, you’re still you, babe. It’s what’s on the inside the counts and all that crap. The uniforms come and go. Over the years I’ve...

Shepard: -downs her drink- Not for me, matriarch. My mother is a captain, my father was chief engineer on a carrier by the time he passed. I’ve never been outside of the Alliance. They called me by my last name when I was 6 because that’s what all the military kids did. Serving in the fleet is all I’ve ever wanted and all I’ve ever done. And now I’m working for some shaddowy billionaire who’s murdered marines and an admiral and God knows who else. I look at the insignia on my chest and I want to punch the fucking mirror. I want to beat Miranda’s face in, just because. That commander’s uniform was who I was. Now who the hell am I?

Aethyta: I’m sorry babe. I shouldn’t try to answer this for you. This is one of those figure-it-out for yourself kind of deals. But do you think it was easy walking off Thessia and leaving my people behind? They couldn’t see the truth. If the Alliance can’t either, then you need to find help wherever you can get it.

Shepard: -sighs- I suppose you’re right. Maybe. Still, it’s hard going from fighting the enemy on the battlefield to killing mercs in back alleys. Over the past few week’s I’ve done a lot I’m not exactly proud of. But that’s what I need to do if I’m going to have a squad at all. Damn it. -drinks-

Aethyta: Slow down, babe. I don’t want to have to cut you off. Listen, you’re going to make it through this fine. I should know.

Shepard: I’m sure I will. Once the mission starts for real everything will be simpler. They say it’s suicide but I’m looking forward to it.

Aethyta: That was a real smile, it’s good to see. Wait. You’re not looking forward to not coming back? I hate that deathseeker shit.

Shepard: No ma’am. I’ve been doing the impossible since I was 22. Give me a good squad and enough ammo and I can kill anything. And live to brag about it. -drinks-

Aethyta: That’s the spirit. Should be a piece of cake after jumping into the middle of the citadel and killing that AI dreadnought...thing. So how are those miscreants treating you, anyway? Still a rag-tag bunch of fuck-ups and misfits?

Shepard: You could say that, Matriarch. They’re no soldiers, most of them. It’s nice to have some old comrades - Garrus and Tali would follow me through hell. I’m less alone, now, at least. But some of the new ones are pretty interesting, I suppose. I might even like a couple.

Aethyta: Interesting how? Interesting like you might want to bend them over and…

Shepard: Easy, matriarch, I just met the guy. He’s just, different, that’s all. Kind of, serene. Distant. Warm. I’d like to get to know him.

Aethyta: So it is a guy, huh. What is he...human, Turian, Quarian? Some Quarians have fantastic asses…

Shepard: Drell. And he’s just an acquaintance that I’d like to get to know better. I’m not trolling my squad for dates. Anyway, I feel like you’re changing the subject on me here.

Aethyta: Me? I’d never change the subject, babe, let alone when a friend is wallowing in their misery. It’s not like I hate sad drunks or anything. Drell, never did a Drell. Now I kind of want to. Pebbly skin. It must feel nice. Wait. What’s he do?

Shepard: He uh ...mumbles… kills people.

Aethyta: Shit. Thane Krios. You mean Thane Krios. Assassin Thane Krios. Would you know anything about Dantius and a building full of mercs ending up dead?

Shepard: How often do the cops come here again? I don’t really want to get interrogated by Officer Dara…I got enough problems already…

Aethyta: Forget about it. Dara loves me, and she knows I don’t let real scum drink here. So. That building full of dead merc’s wasn’t Krios’s style, but the snapped necks up top were. So someone else was there. Then there was that poor bastard they peeled off the street.

Shepard: Uh, yeah. I might have heard about that one.

Aethyta: Touchy subject, sorry I asked, babe. But you met Krios. And he’s what, darkly mysterious? Seductive in a reptilian kind of way? Dashing?

Shepard: Damn it, matriarch. He’s...he’s kind of confusing. He’s religious. Not exactly open, but he’s friendly. Sad. He’s very sad. And alone.

Aethyta: And you’d just like to be the person who makes him less alone, huh babe?

Shepard: Congrats, Aethyta. I’m not depressed. I’m just annoyed. At you. 

Aethyta: I do what I can, babe.


	2. Chapter 2

Aethyta: Hey babe. You want a drink? Or are you just here to bask in my centuries of wisdom?

Shepard: You know me. Whiskey.

Aethyta: I’ll get your bottle. What’s left of it. You look happier. It’s good to see.

Shepard: I guess I am. I know what to do now. Just a small matter of going through the Omega relay and wrecking an entire planet I’ve never seen before. But it’ll come to me when I get there. 

Aethyta: I was going to ask how the suicide mission was coming along. Those miscreants looking like a squad yet?

Shepard: Sometimes I think I might just like them. Still a little bit more drama than I like. And only one of them salutes. But it’s not all bad. I have grown closer to old friends, and to some new ones.

Aethyta: You smiled when you said that. Speaking of which, how’s that Krios fellow? I bet he’s got black eyes as mysterious as the sea or some shit like that.

Shepard: He’s fine. Thanks for asking.

Aethyta: You’re still smiling, Commander.

Shepard: I guess I am. Can’t a lady drink in peace without getting interrogated?

Aethyta: Sure she can, babe. But I don’t think she comes here just to drink in peace. 

Shepard: You got me, matriarch. Fine. I shouldn’t be so happy. Thane will be dead in a year even if he survives this but I’m just glad I know him.

Aethyta: Damn, that’s not much time, even for a human. I’m glad you have some perspective. You don’t seem as...conflicted. Getting laid cured all that, huh?

Shepard: I’m a simple woman but I’m not that simple. No. I have a goal now. Get through that relay. I know what to do. I’m not drifting in space waiting for something to happen. It makes me feel like I really am alive again. The only other thing that’s done that is a firefight. And...well. You know.

Aethyta: It sure helps doesn’t it babe? 

Shepard: Thane did tell me something. It’s going to sound corny as hell. Don’t laugh.

Aethyta: I promise on my father’s very large grave that I will not laugh at you.

Shepard: He called me Siha. It’s a pet name, I guess. 

Aethyta: It’s pretty. What’s it mean?

Shepard: The Siha are the fierce guardian angels of a Drell warrior Goddess. They protect the innocent.

Aethyta: That’s sweet, babe. 

Sheard: I don’t think you understand, matriarch. Thane looks at me and he sees a protector of the innocent. He didn’t see me save the Citadel or rescue Elyssium. He isn’t seeing what I did 2 or 10 years ago. He’s seen me beat a man half to death and he doesn’t see a thug or a murderer. He still sees me out there protecting the galaxy. Like I’m still doing what I’m supposed to do. It’s nice to hear. It’s nice to know that someone sees me like that. That they believe in me. So that’s one reason I’m happy. To the mission, Matriarch. I’m not going to let it kill me.

Aethyta: Hah, that's good. So I have to ask, commander. What’s it like nailing a Drell?  
Shepard: You sure do keep it classy, matriarch.

Aethyta: Coyness is for Maidens, babe. When you get to be my age you’ve got no time to beat around the bush.

Shepard: Fine, fine. You’ve discounted my tab enough times I guess I owe you.

-Aethyta rests her chin in her hands and raises an eyebrow-

Sheaprd: To quote my doctor friend Mordin Solus “Oral contact with Drell skin can cause mild but not unpleasant hallucinations and altered states of consciousness.”

Aethyta: Damn, so when you kiss this guy, you get high?

Shepard: Auras around lights, halos around faces, out of body sensations, synesthesia, that kind of thing. Not that you can’t still feel everything.

Aethyta: Goddess, I’ve never seen an orgasm before.

Shepard: Well I guess there’s something I’ve done that you haven’t, Matriarch.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is where the major character death comes in.

Scene: the Normandy

Shepard: I want good news, Tali. I have a whole crew waiting on this. Were those Cerberus firewalls a problem?

Tali: They were tough, captain, but Legion and EDI were there to help me. We are now 3,000,000 credits richer. The Lazurus project slush fund is empty.

Shepard: Strong work, Tali. I’ll tell it to the crew. 

EDI: Humans say that they can hear a smile without seeing a face. I think I heard yours, Ms. Vas Normandy.

Tali: Quiet, machine.

Shepard: People, this is your CO speaking. Thanks to the unconscious generosity of our former employer, I am pleased to announce a performance bonus for a job well done. One fourth of it has just been transferred to your accounts. The rest will be transferred -after- our 3 days shore leave on Illium has concluded. Just remember, I’ve rescued you once, so don’t sell yourselves into slavery to cover your bar tabs. But have fun. That’s an order.

Scene: Eternity. Closing time.

Aethyta: Alright everyone, Illium may not sleep but I have to. You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here.

-Shepard walks in.-

Aethyta: And for goddess’s sake call a cab. Or let your VI drive. Alright, bar’s closed.

Shepard: I guess I’ll just head back to the Normandy, then. Or hit one of those all night dives with the crew.

Aethyta: What happened to you, babe? You look old. Well, for a human.

Shepard: I’ll let you clean up. I have to go.

Aethyta: When I said the bar’s closed I didn’t mean it was closed for you. Come’ere. Sit. So what happened?

-Aethyta pours Shepard a drink-

Shepard: Well I just brought my ship and my crew back from a suicide mission. I told Cerberus where to stuff it and I killed my second Reaper. 

-Shepard Drinks-

Aethyta: And you say that like you’re a Turian reading a weather report. -Aethyta pours Shepard another drink-

Shepard: I’m proud of everything we did. It was a textbook small unit raid. We went in fast and hit them before they knew we were there. We blew the place to hell. I wiped out the Collectors, Matriarch. I saved my crew. And with light casualties. Garrus and Miranda and I wrote up the reports and I sent them to Admiral Hackett. They may use them in the academy some day. It was the mission of a lifetime. Some dead human said it best, “Never have so many owed so much to so few.” Well, except that time I saved the Citadel

Aethyta: Babe, that’s amazing and you’re probably the scariest woman in the galaxy right now, but you’re obviously not here to celebrate. You sound like you came from a funeral. What were those ‘light’ casualties?

Shepard: One killed. -Shepard Drinks-

Aethyta: Anyone I’d know?

Shepard: Thane. It was Thane.

Aethyta: I...Babe...Shit.

-Aethyta pours Shepard a drink-

Silence for a time. Neither moves or speaks.

Shepard: Everything went perfectly when we got in. Tali went in through the vents and bypassed their security. Garrus distracted them. We went through their troops like a hot knife through butter. It was kind of fun, actually. Then we needed to get through these...things. Seeker swarms. I suggested a biotic barrier, and I picked Miranda. Jack and Samara were stronger, but I needed Samara watching my back and Jack watching Garrus’s. And Miranda was great. She was strong until the very end. And then her barrier failed. And the swarms got to Thane. They ate him alive, Matriarch. He died right in front of me. He died screaming..

Aethyta: That sounds like a bad way to go, and it damn if it isn’t awful that you had to watch.

Shepard: I don’t know of many good ways to go. I have seen a lot of people die, Matriarch, and most of them were screaming. Except for Kaidan. I guess being vaporized by a nuke isn’t so bad.

Aethyta: You made the right call at the time. Don’t forget that. You’re in command. Sometimes people die.

Shepard: This wasn’t like Virmire. That was no win. I would do the exact same thing again. Every time. Kaidan -Shepard Shrugs- Kaidan died doing what he signed up for. He died a fucking hero and his grave has the medals to prove it. But Thane. That’s different. That wasn’t just a tough call, that was my mistake. If I’d have just picked Jack, well... Garrus could have handled those collectors on his own. Thane would be here. For just a little longer.

Aethyta: You still got your people out. No one should have been able to go through the Omega relay, blow up...whatever it was and get out. This sounds like one for the history books. You need to have some perspective, soldier.

Shepard: Yep. I’m a goddamn hero again. Hurrah. -Shepard drinks-

-Aethyta pours another drink-

Aethyta: And if Thane had lived a few more months and die a natural, painful death?

Shepard: Well I’d feel better. I wouldn’t have gotten him killed. -sigh- I’d still miss him, though. 

-Shepard drinks-

I just want another month, Matriarch. I want to show him a desert. Back on earth. The Dasht-e Kavir, near where my grandparents lived. I want to see him talk to his son. I want to tell him that I love him.

-Shepard drinks-

Aethyta: Damn.

-Aethyta pours another, smaller, drink-

Aethyta: Maybe he already knew.

Shepard: Maybe, matriarch. I still want to tell him.

Aethyta: Does talking about it help any, babe?

Shepard: It beats silence, sometimes. Thanks for listening. 

Right now it just hurts. I suppose it’s better than forgetting.

Aethyta: I’ve got a little piece of matronly advice. It will never stop hurting. You’ll just learn to live with it. And you’re tough. You’ve already learned to live with a lot. You’ll learn to live with even more. And next thing you know you’re old and you’re carrying around so much grief you can barely stand it some days. But you smile, and you take a drink, because it beats being dead. 

Shepard: Is that supposed to make me feel better?

Aethyta: No babe. It’s just the truth. So you’re worried about forgetting him. How are you going to remember him?

Shepard: -Shepard shakes her head-. I wish I were a Drell. Then I’d remember everything like it happened.

Aethyta: Sounds like a double edged sword.

Shepard: It is. Thane spent 10 years remembering his dead wife instead of being alive. But right now I don’t want to move on. I just want to remember. 

Aethyta: Doing anything about it?

Shepard: Yeah. I’m writing down everything I remember about him. Every moment we had. Every inch of him. Everything he said. Everything about what we had. Yes, matriarch, even the dirty parts.

Aethyta: Anything you want to share? I never met the man. I only know the headlines about all the bodies with their necks turned around all wrong.

Shepard: I suppose I could tell you how we met.

Aethyta: I always love these stories. I’m a romantic, I guess. -Aethyta pours herself a drink, and downs it-

Shepard: It was evening. Right around sunset. I’d just killed my way through a building full of mercs. Nassana had ordered them to kill the construction crews. I wasn’t in the mood to talk: I shoved one of them out a window and the rest I just shot.

Aethyta: They were talking about the mess that one guy made for a week.

Shepard: After all that, I’m in Nassana’s penthouse office. Her men have their guns on me. She’s ranting. She’s paranoid. Maybe you knew her. It wasn’t exactly a surprise if you did (Aethyta nods) A real charmer. I’m worried that if she does something stupid I’ll have to kill her myself.

And then this figure drops from the vents and just glides up to the guards. He has the setting sun behind him. I couldn’t see his face. And he just kills them, snap, snap. Until only Nassana is left. And she wheels around and points her gun at him and tries to buy him off. And he just shakes his head and snaps her neck. He takes her body and lays it out, and he starts praying over her. The setting sun is behind him, and it’s the most beautiful sunset. 

Aethyta: This snake den does have some bitchin’ sunsets.

Shepard: He doesn’t look at us. He doesn’t say a word. And he’s... He’s serene. And mysterious. He’s beautiful. It’s almost the feeling I got when I met the Rachni Queen 

Aethyta: The what!? Sorry, babe, continue.

Shepard: He’s just so different, and he’s captivating, and he looks at me with these sad eyes. He tells me that he’ll go on this suicide mission for free. That he relishes the opportunity. He says he wants to make the galaxy a better place before he dies. And I believe him.

Aethyta: That’s beautiful. 

Shepard: Except that isn’t how it happened. Even if it’s how I remember it. I remember the sunset and his face. At the time I’m sure I was mostly thinking about three different ways to kill him if he’d turned on us: I could have charged, shoved him through the window and skidded to a stop before I fell. That would have been the way to do it, couldn’t get into a firefight and let him disappear. I motioned to Jack to get ready to flank him, and I wiggled my pinky at Garrus to provide covering fire. I’m sure when he just stood there and accepted the mission I was mostly relieved.

Aethyta: Love at first sight, eh?

Shepard: I wouldn’t have lived very long if I drank in the beauty of every merc with a pretty face, now would I?

Aethyta: How did Thane remember it?

Shepard -laughs-: Well, he remembered it exactly. Which was annoying. When you’re with a guy that has an eidetic memory you can never win those little arguments about, you know, all the shit that happened way back when. He remembers the look on Jack’s face and the Garrus looked ready to shoot him. He said I looked suspicious, but friendly.

Aethyta: It’s a great story anyway, babe. It reminds me of my parents. Sometimes, talking to you, it’s like talking to my father. You’d make a great Krogan.

Shepard: I get that a lot -drinks-.

-Aethyta pours Shepard and herself another drink.-

Aethyta: To all our dead loves, Shepard.

-Shepard and Aethyta drink-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: this Shepard is half Iranian, ad was raised Baha'i. She isn't very good it but she tries to take the precepts of her fair seriously.


End file.
